


The Mark of An Angel - Discontinued

by reinventryden



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dean Winchester - Freeform, Gabriel - Freeform, M/M, Sam Winchester - Freeform, Wincest if you squint, castiel - Freeform, i have no life, i promise it's not completely heartbreaking, im lonely, please notice me, random archangel no one likes, what kind of human am i
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-18
Updated: 2015-11-18
Packaged: 2018-05-02 04:55:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5234930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reinventryden/pseuds/reinventryden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just like that, he's gone. </p><p> </p><p>When Cas is killed in front of Dean's very eyes, Dean comes apart at the seams. However, a mysterious creature appears, granting Dean seven days, no more, no less, to go back in time and stop the events leading up to Castiel's death. </p><p>But it comes with a price.</p><p>NOTE: Major Character Death (um duh it's literally in the description), heavy themes, but there are NO TRIGGERS (no cutting, suicide, disorders, etc.).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Prologue

It was supposed to be an easy case. A simple salt-and-burn.

And it was.

Until she showed up.

Sam, Dean, and Cas had been looking for the Darkness for ages. She matured rapidly, but they didn’t expect her to reach adult form so soon.

Not expecting things had a long history of ending in tragedy, and this time was both similar and different.  
…  
“Cas, look out--!” Dean shouted, but it was too late. The Darkness, with a smug grin on her face, had already managed to sink the knife deep into the angel’s chest. Castiel gave a strangled gasp, and sunk to his knees slowly, left hand clutching his chest as his own angel blade clattered to the floor. With a laugh, the Darkness vanished into smoke and flew out the window.

Dean sprinted over to Cas, blood pounding in his ears. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not yet. Dimly, he could hear Sam yelling something, but he didn’t care. He grabbed the angel, and held him up, cradling him in his arms.

“Hey, Cas, buddy, you gotta stay with me, alright? Listen, you’re going to be okay. Just hang in there. Sam? Sam!”

Castiel’s blue eyes tried to focus on Dean, rapidly beginning to glow white.  
3  
“Dean,” he stuttered out in his deep voice, “Get…away…wings…burn…grace…”

Sam skidded to a stop beside them, and knelt, speaking quickly.

“Dean, his wings will burn you if you don’t get away, now. Come on, move!”

“No, I don’t care! Cas, you can’t leave, okay? You gotta stay with me, buddy. Come on. Come on, just hold on.”

Cas grabbed Dean’s shoulders weakly and tried to push him away. He wouldn’t--couldn’t—let Dean harbor such a horrible and painful scar.

He wasn’t strong enough; he couldn’t even sway the hunter. Cas tried to resist the magical energy that was ripping his vessel apart. He couldn’t hurt Dean. Not again. But it was no use. With a final, desperate attempt to push him away, he succumbed to the pull. Castiel’s own spirit ripped through the crevices of the vessel, pulling his wings out of subspace and burning them to ashes in the same moment as the concentrated energy from the angel blade destroyed his essence. 

I’m sorry.

The last thing he heard was Dean’s horrible scream as Cas’ own wings left their mark on him, burning through layers of clothing to scar the flesh beneath.

I’m sorry.

Dean gritted his teeth against the blinding pain, trying to keep tears from streaming down his cheeks. 

“Cas!” he yelled, “Cas! Cas, please! I need you!”

He shook the lifeless angel desperately.

“Cas!”

No answer.

“Cas!”

Dean finally pulled Castiel to his burning chest and sobbed, genuine tears dripping onto the tan trenchcoat. He didn’t care who saw, Sam, demons, angels, Crowley; hell, he didn’t care even if God himself saw.  
“If you would just come back…please…” he whispered, “…I loved you, Cas.”

“I LOVED YOU! DAMMIT, CAS, WHY COULDN’T YOU SEE THAT? WHY WOULD YOU TAKE AWAY ONE OF THE ONLY TWO THINGS THAT MATTERED TO ME?”  
It was unclear who Dean was shouting at: himself, Castiel, or God. 

“I’VE LOST ENOUGH, YOU STUPID SON OF A BITCH! WHY HIM? WHY CAS?”

Dean’s eyes suddenly fluttered tiredly, but he kept yelling incoherently. The only words Sam caught were repeats of ‘Cas, bitch, loved.”

He didn’t seem to notice as he suddenly keeled over backwards, the pain finally registering in his brain and knocking him out cold. Dean’s head hit the ground, Castiel still wrapped in his arms. Sam wiped away the tears threatening to fall, and gently moved the angel, and then picked up his wounded brother ever so carefully. Taking one last sweep of the area, he walked out the door of that fateful warehouse, where Castiel had suddenly entered their life, and just as abruptly walked out of it.


	2. Seven Days Before....

**Chapter 1—Seven Days Before**

Dean awoke slowly. He was confused and out of it, and his head felt like it weighed a thousand tons. He blinked at the peeling whitewashed walls of the cheap motel room, and heard the soft whirring of Sam’s laptop.

“S--?” he broke off, coughing. His voice felt raw and hoarse, “Sam?”

“Dean! You’re awake!” Sam said worriedly, hastily shutting his laptop and heading over to his brother, who had pulled himself up into a sitting position, “Uh, stupid question, but…how do you feel?”

“W-Where’s Cas?” he asked tiredly, ignoring Sam’s question. Sam bit his lip and wrung his hands together.

“Dean…he…uh…”

Dean fell back onto the pillows, closing his eyes to keep the tears away. He was reawakened by a jolt of pain in his chest.

“Ow, what the hell was that?” he grunted, his right hand crawling up to feel the heavily bandaged skin.

“When Cas…uh, passed away…his wings left an imprint on you. That’s what I was trying to tell you. One of them burned the floor…the other, you.”

Dean shifted and started unwrapping the gauze.

“Don’t—“  
“Shut up, Sammy,” Dean growled, and continued pulling away until he exposed his bare chest. There was the clear outline of individual feathers, burned into the flesh in an angry red color. He ran his index finger along the lines, feeling more emotional pain than physical pain.

“We’re going to need to take a break, Dean.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Dean mumbled, and turned over on his side, trying hard not to cry in front of his brother after his breakdown yesterday.

*******************

“Cas, look out--!” Dean shouted, watching the angel get murdered, yet again, knowing how the scene would play out. He had had nightmares for days following Charlie’s death, and she was a good friend. Cas, on the other hand, would be even worse. If God was still alive, he definitely had it out for Dean.

Suddenly, the entire dream froze. Dean looked around, panicked. Was it even possible for dreams to stop? If it was, then it would take something very, very powerful.

The lights of the dream-warehouse flickered, and there was a loud bang as every window shattered. However, neither Cas nor the Darkness moved an inch, their entire bodies frozen. There was a flash of light, and a tall brown-haired girl stepped out of the shadows. Her blue eyes narrowed as she regarded Dean with something reminiscent of how you’d look at a dirty sock that had been under your bed since the time of the dinosaurs. The shadow of her six wings reflected on the pale walls, and then faded away.  
He shifted uncomfortably under her intense gaze, and decided this simply wouldn’t do.

“Who are you?” he demanded, trying not to look at Castiel.

“I’m Melanie. Before you ask, yes, I’m an archangel. I’m going to make this short and sweet, because I really don’t have time for the likes of you.”

That was offensive. Who did she think she was? I mean, yeah, she was an archangel, but did that really give her the right to be this bitchy?

“What do you mean, for the likes of me?”

Melanie waved off the question, and walked over to the unmoving image of Cas and Amara. She ran her right index finger down Cas’ jawline, and looked over at me.

“I gather that you want him back. I can help with that. I can offer you seven days—that’s one week, in case you’re stupid—to stop the events leading up to his death from happening.”

“You what?” Dean asked, not quite believing his ears.

“You have seven days to stop Castiel’s death, as it is avoidable, in this case. It is not yet his time. However, of course, I have some terms,” Melanie smirked.

“Name them.”

“You may not sleep, at all, over the course of the seven days. If you do, the contract will be broken, and you will be thrown back into the present time, leaving the altered events to play out as they will. You will also retain the mark of Castiel’s wings. Finally, if Sam or Castiel find out about Castiel’s impending death, both will drop immediately. Got it?”

The conditions weren’t exactly favourable, but in his case, Dean didn’t have much of a choice. He had a chance to stop Cas’ death, and he was going to take it.

“Yeah, I agree. Now, what do you need to seal the deal? A kiss?”

“Oh no, it has to be something much more binding,” she walked up closely, and Dean stepped away awkwardly. She didn’t mean…

“No,” she sighed in exasperation, as if reading his thoughts, “I’m not planning on having sex with you.”

Suddenly, her slender angel blade slid into her hand, and she pricked her finger on the tip of the blade. She held it out for Dean to do the same, and then touched her finger to his.

“It’s a blood oath. Practically unbreakable, unless one of the two contract holders does not fulfill the terms.”

With one last smug grin, Melanie turned away, and started walking away.

“Wait! What’s in it for you?” Dean asked, cursing himself for not asking it earlier.

Melanie turned back and tucked her hair behind her ear.

“I…owe him a favour. He, uh, did something…” she said awkwardly, losing her cool air for the first time during their meeting, “Anyway. Remember. Seven days.”

With that, she melted away and Dean woke up, breathing heavily, just as his alarm clock went off, playing ‘Heat of the Moment.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I didn't write very many author notes last time oops. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! It's slightly longer than last time, and I aim to have about nine-ten chapters. Prologue, the seven days, and the epilogue.
> 
> Also, did you see that Mystery Spot Reference I made there oh yeah I'm cool like that
> 
> ~SprinkleKat

**Author's Note:**

> literally what kind of person am i


End file.
